Milan Lucic is being given quite the opportunity to succeed in Los Angeles, where the big winger is expected to start his Kings career on a line with Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik.
It’s a combination that Kopitar, one of the NHL’s top two-way centers, thinks could work rather well.
“We’ve got a good shooter in Gabby and then Looch gives us a little bit more pounds on the line, too, and maybe a little bit more physicality,” Kopitar told the Daily News. “I’ll just try and do what I’ve been doing so far, and I’ll take care of both ends of the ice and try to make plays and get those guys the puck in scoring areas.”
Chemistry is a tough thing to predict. Maybe the trio works, maybe it doesn’t.
But assuming head coach Darryl Sutter would like Jeff Carter to center Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson (remember how good that line was in the 2014 playoffs), and given Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, and Dustin Brown have been told they’ll be playing a “third-line, shutdown-energy role” together, expect to see plenty of the Lucic-Kopitar-Gaborik combination during the preseason.
“We think it’s a good fit,” said Sutter, per LA Kings Insider. “Finding out where Looch fits, where [new defenseman Christian Ehrhoff] fits, where two or three of the young guys fit, so the best way to find out is during the game. You can practice all you want.”
Related: Lucic says sticking with Kings would be ‘perfect scenario’